Bonn, Germany

Formerly the capital of West Germany, Bonn is a city of 315,000 on the Rhine River just south of Cologne. Since reunification Bonn has retained a political role as "Federal City" and has established itself as an important hub of international cooperation and business. Its university is one of the largest in Germany. While it can't quite compete with the historical architecture of its larger neighbor to the north, Bonn does have more than one important Romanesque church and an excellent regional museum full of fascinating religious treasures. It is also home to a popular non-religious attraction: the Beethovenhaus, where Ludwig was born in 1770.


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Bonn Münster
Bonn's towering Romanesque basilica stands over an ancient shrine to the martyrs Cassius and Florentius.
Doppelkirche Schwarzrheindorf
This Romanesque "double church" in an eastern suburb of Bonn was completed in 1151. Its exterior is colorfully painted and its interior vault is covered in well-preserved medieval murals.